First Real Peony Season - June 2023

It has taken six growing seasons, but we *finally* have enough peonies to make a bouquet.  Just one bouquet.   But, it is still a bouquet.  That's a major victory for me.  We had a major set of Peony tubers in our first house in Elmhurst.  We also had a full sun backyard.  In Downers Grove we have had peonies that have grown, but never really flowered.  And, mostly shade.

So, over the years, I've moved the plants around.  And, it seems that I've found a few spots that work for peonies.  We have (this year) three flowering peony plants.  First, a darker, purple-ish single blom:

That opened up to look like this:

We had one white peony that bloomed - a Duchesse de Nemours white peony that is also in our backyard.  See below for that bloom after I cut it and brought it in:

And, finally...the largest of the peony plants:  Sarah Bernhardt pink peonies.  This peony plant is out front, IB2DWS and this is what it looked like when the blooms were still closed and felt like 'marshmallows'.  See below:

I cut the still-closed blooms off and brought them in.  Here, below, is what they look like in our kitchen:

I have been planning on using the IB2DWS extended bed to fill with evergreens, but now I'm reconsidering and thinking that planting peonies out there is the right move.  Off I go to see if I can find any post-bloom peony sales at the big box nurseries. 

I also have discovered one additional peony plant that is still in deep shade that I'll be moving up front in the coming weeks.